Commercial realtors reportedly told Kirsner that Apple has leased
more than half a floor at One Broadway at Kendall Square in
Cambridge, Boston.

Kirsner notes that this is a significant expansion for Apple,
which currently only has a small team that works on the
building's fifth floor.

Apple's Cambridge-based team is highly focused on working on
improving speech recognition for Siri. Team members in this
office have previously worked for Nuance Communications, which
partially powers the voice recognition tech behind Siri and the
Dragon Assistant for computers.

If this is true, it would make sense that Apple is leasing extra
space in its Cambridge-based office for its new hires. Kirsner
also notes that Apple is looking to hire new speech researchers
and developers based in its Boston office, as seen in
a recent post on Apple's job board.

Now is better a time than ever for Apple to beef up its speech
recognition team. Siri faces strong competition from both Google
and Microsoft, which are both playing up voice recognition tech
and virtual assistants in their new products.

Microsoft's Cortana virtual assistant for Windows Phone devices
was among the biggest features to come with its most recent
software update, Windows Phone 8.1. The company is billing
Cortana as a personal virtual assistant that learns more about
you the more you use it.

Google Now works similarly. It remembers your preferences and
shows you relevant information when you need it. Android Wear,
Google's new software platform for wearables, heavily relies on
Google Now integration and voice commands.

The report comes just before Apple is set to unveil its
next-generation iPhone and presumably its first wearable device.
With new products and software updates coming, it wouldn't be
surprising to see Apple expand its research efforts for
Siri.